National Football News, Baseball News

Category: National Hockey League

The Wizards, down 10 points to the Pistons after the first quarter, had already caught up by halftime, but they did most of their damage in the third.

Washington outscored the Pistons 45-28 in the first 12 minutes of the second half, taking control of the game on the road, ultimately leading to a 122-112 win. Bradley Beal and Kelly Oubre Jr. were a big part of the comeback, scoring 26 points apiece.

The two combined to shoot 9 of 16 from 3-point range, lighting up the scoreboard while the Pistons looked helpless on defense. Oubre added five rebounds, while Beal had three rebounds and three assists.

Kings forward Justin Jackson is going to receive opportunities with Sacramento’s new youth movement, but he didn’t take advantage of his situation Friday, scoring just three points with one rebound and zero assists in a 106-88 loss to the Grizzlies.

Thunder (25-20) at Cavaliers (27-17) 3:30 p.m. ET — The Cavs, losers in nine of their last 13 games, have been linked with a number of possible trade targets, including Clippers center DeAndre Jordan. The Thunder have looked more impressive lately, but the three-headed monster of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony still hasn’t clicked. LeBron James could reach 30,000 career points in this game.

Cleveland knew the season was going to be rough in the beginning as they were not expecting to have guard Isaiah Thomas playing until January. Thomas is back in the lineup but still the team is mired in problems.

The Cavaliers are 2-3 with Thomas on the court and are allowing 123 points per game in those five outings. Cleveland is 25th in the league in points allowed per game, and are allowing nearly 18 points more per time out with Thomas on the court.

James talked about having a consistent plan on the court earlier this year and how that made the defense better during their 13-game winning streak. The team has not yet had that consistency with Thomas on the court. He has missed two of the last five games and has been on a minutes restriction as well.

The Penguins had dropped five straight to the Flames, including a 2-1 overtime loss in Calgary in November back when they played very much like a team dealing with a Stanley Cup hangover. Four months later, Pittsburgh is again looking like a threat to make a deep playoff run and wasted little time sprinting to a 2-0 lead.

Anders Nilsson, who played in his 100th career game, had 19 saves for the Canucks before being replaced by Jacob Markstrom at the start of the third period. Markstrom made 8 stops for Vancouver.

“It’s definitely frustrating, I’m not happy with the loss,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. “The players gotta realize that against a quick team they’re not gonna have as much time and space if you turn the puck over a couple of times inside their blue line.”

The Rams forced 28 turnovers this season, good for fifth-best in the league. They also went from registering just 31 sacks in 2016 to 48 in 2017, better than all but three teams. Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald led the way with 11, tying a career best.

Even though the Rams’ 2017 ended with a loss against the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card round, McVay helped them make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. There’s no denying McVay has this young team on the right path.

Lewis could also jump routes and make plays on the ball. He led all linebackers with six interceptions in 2003. Lewis only went three seasons without registering at least one interception.

His 50 takeaways are the second-most among linebackers in NFL history. Jack Ham, a Pittsburgh Steelers legend and Hall of Famer, has three more takeaways than Lewis.

“We didn’t get off to a great start and we kept trying to find that one game when we could turn it around,” Spagnuolo said. “We just couldn’t. And sometimes when it snowballs downward and you keep trying to push that thing back up hill, it gets tougher and tougher.

The Steelers rose at the same time the city’s economy sank, becoming a symbol of underdog hope.

They still had their Steelers even though the factories, mills and coal mines shuttered. They still had their Steelers as families were ripped apart, children forced to move away in search of opportunity.

It’s a way of life around these parts. We hold our athletes and owners to a high standard. And on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers failed to meet that standard. And not just one or two players, but the entire franchise, from owner on down.”

Given his track record of rebuilding the Bengals into playoff teams after mini-slumps, I would rather bet on a known commodity than an unknown prospect that doesn’t have the chops to handle the unique circumstances of this job. Remember, this is a franchise that traditionally hires coaches with previous ties to the organization, and none of the viable options (Hue Jackson, Jay Gruden and Vance Joseph) hit the streets during this coaching cycle.

“Right after practice, me and one to three other [players] would go to somebody’s house [to get high],” Britton recalls. “Smoking helped me to socialize with teammates. We let our guards down . . . But a lot of the time [stoned talk] wasn’t even about football. Cannabis took us out of football. We were hanging out and just being people. It brought us closer together as teammates.”

So Chiefs coach Andy Reid, in an effort to both rest veteran Alex Smith and give Mahomes some valuable experience, opted to make this move.

“Every snap that he gets is a valuable snap for him for whenever he has that chance of getting in there [as the full-time starter], Fortunately, we’re in a situation where we can do that,” Reid said.

This is something Payton did in 2006, when he selected a handful of players (Reggie Bush, Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Zach Strief and Marques Colston) that helped make up the core of the team’s Super Bowl-winning squad in 2009. With each of those aforementioned players (plus Rob Ninkovich, who spent a year in New Orleans before moving on to Miami and New England) putting in a decade of service in the league, Payton had enough examples of the kind of players he needed to return the Saints back to prominence.

“The football makeup of that class, those guys all played 10 years,” Payton said. “The football makeup, the intelligence, the grit, those key factors in trying to measure success, it was important that we were clear. We weren’t being hard on each evaluation, but we need that type of foundation again of smart, tough football players that we had a clear vision for.”

Third, that talent is constructed in a way that should be familiar to Patriots fans, and not in a good way. The Eagles bear a striking resemblance to the 2011 Giants team that upended the Pats in Indianapolis.

On a text thread with a couple of friends during the Eagles game, we were debating whether not Philly could trade Carson Wentz or if he was losing money on his second contract with every big Foles completion. I think we were joking? I was joking. But Foles has a history of doing some good things, both small and big sample size, in the NFL.

After sitting atop my quarterback rankings for the vast majority of the season, a brutal game at home against Kansas State sunk Rudolph to No. 2, just behind Lamar Jackson, as bowl season approached. Following a masterful 351-yard, two-touchdown, zero-interception performance against Virginia Tech, he regains the No. 1 quarterback spot.

Clockwork for him. On the season, Guice had four games with at least five forced missed tackles. One can reasonably argue that Guice is more impressive than Barkley between the tackles, and he’s probably more powerful through tackles. He just lacks elite long speed.

The Jets stayed put and had their choice of Adams or Lattimore, the draft’s top cornerback. They went with Adams, who was well worth the No. 6 selection. Should they have gone the QB route and taken Watson or Mahomes? Perhaps. But a case could be made that neither was worth the No. 6 pick.

Eric Reid, who has taken over the 49ers’ leadership on the matter since Kaepernick became a free agent, has promised that the team will continue to be out front on the issue. He and his teammates have, he says, the backing of owner Jed York, who has “expressed very clearly that he wants to support us,” Reid said. “That he’s not going to force us to do anything. Speaking for our team, that’s what he’s told me explicitly.”

Prior to his Seahawks run, Bevell served as coordinator for the Vikings from 2006 to 2010. With coaching friends around the league and a resume stocked with accolades, he’ll find work again.

It’s late in the process for Seattle to make a switch, with new coaching staffs forming league-wide, but working with Wilson and Carroll make this an interesting landing spot for candidates. Carroll — typically loyal to his staff — could also choose to promote from within.

If Cam Newton deserves the chance to grow under a fresh-thinking play-caller in Carolina, the same is true of Wilson. Repeatedly asking your quarterback to singlehandedly save the day can be fun to watch, but it comes with a cost.

The latest example is Jim Plunkett, once a No. 1 overall draft pick in the NFL who quarterbacked the Raiders (first in Oakland and later in Los Angeles) to two Super Bowl titles, winning MVP honors the first time, a 27-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Plunkett, 69, is the subject of a profile in Friday’s Mercury News in which he discusses being in constant pain, remembering 10 concussions suffered while assuming there were many more and saying: My life sucks. It’s no fun being in this body right now. Everything hurts.

There are a couple other drugs I take — I can’t know them all, he said. I’ve got to take them every day to quote-unquote survive.

According to tight end Greg Olsen, other officials on the field even disagreed with the decision before it could be officially announced.

Other than those specifics, Gruden didn’t talk much about his contract. But he did make a joke about the reported length of the deal.

Gruden was asked by former Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson whether or not the team included a no-trade clause in his contract. Gruden said that they did, and he also said there is no ownership stake in the team included in his deal.

He addressed Woodson directly another time, and with a funnier quote. Gruden’s last game as the Raiders head coach was the infamous Tuck Rule game. Woodson is the one who stripped the ball from Tom Brady. The Tuck Rule was born when officials ruled it a forward pass. Gruden made it clear that he disagrees.

It was notable enough to dive into the inner battles over the national anthem issue between the league office and owners in a Seth Wickersham/Don Van Natta story for ESPN last week. But it seemed more jarring Sunday when Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported that 17 owners participated in a conference call Thursday to explore roadblocking what seemed to be an imminent five-year contract extension for commissioner Roger Goodell.

Brown was a full participant during the Steelers’ Wednesday and Thursday practices, but he fell ill on Friday and didn’t practice. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin sent Brown home — telling reporters that he didn’t want Brown to get anyone else sick.

“Antonio has looked really good,” Tomlin said, via the team’s official website. “He didn’t participate today. I sent him home with an illness. I didn’t want him to get any of the guys that weren’t sick, sick. We’ll bring him back in the building tomorrow. I don’t have a lot of reservations about him from a physical health standpoint. We do need to get him well from an illness standpoint.”

Because it’s uncertain now if Goodell’s contract is fit to be signed today, or if the owners can still try to negotiate the deal down, it may be a moot point. But as one ownership source told me Sunday, Jones wouldn’t be going to this extent if he didn’t think he could affect the final number on Goodell’s deal—or whether there’s a deal at all. This source also said he thought Goodell would react badly to taking any significant pay cut.

Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen has put an end to the speculation — he will forego his senior season to enter the 2018 NFL Draft.

Allen announced his decision after the Cowboys’ 37-14 victory over Central Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The junior completed 11 of 19 for 154 yards and three touchdowns in the game.

Those physical tools have some scouts projecting Allen as a top-10 overall pick in the draft. But not everyone is sold on him. Former NFL great Tiki Barber advised caution on all the Allen hype Friday.

And that’s pretty much hit you have two assignments when you play the chiefs.Community members had the opportunity to meet and greet the two final candidates for the superintendent of the Anchorage School District Wednesday night at Bartlett High School.He’s a very calm .Chandler was released with a failed physical designation by the Patriots.This is the way it’s supposed ago.Coming off his worst offensive , Markakis added 16 pounds of muscle the off .

Thus far he has four receptions on eight targets for 46 yards.

Everyone there wishes many more birthdays for !

All all, it’s tough to find too much fault with the way John Elway and the Broncos have moved on from Peyton Manning, and Lynch represents a genuinely-exciting potential starter for them the future.

One thing that is striking about Lindor, though, is his ease and constant presence with the media.Rickey Horn officiating.Which as we look at it, we’re continuing to try to address that position.Afterward, the package included pop, beer, & pizza.

The Cowboys don’t return to work until Tuesday and Elliott’s first practice since he was banned in late October will be Wednesday.

Elliott rushed for 783 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 19 receptions for 210 yards and two touchdowns before his six-game suspension was upheld. The Cowboys went 3-3 in his absence, the three losses being blowouts, but the team has rebounded to win three in a row. Thanks to their wild Sunday night victory over the Raiders, their playoff hopes remain alive.

“We get an extreme boost because that’s our guy,” wide receiver Dez Bryant said Monday. “That’s our horse. He gives us that extra boost of joy because of his personality and who he is. He gets guys going with his attitude and his passion and love for the game. Just seeing him back will make us play that much harder.”

The Cowboys (8-6) will host the Seahawks (8-6) at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday before closing the regular season on the road against the Eagles (12-2).

His attorney, B.J.Abrines led Barca with 21 points, but couldn’t quite keep pace with the efficiency of the Pana offense, as they hit 50 percent from 3-point range and attempted 38 free throws the win.15 and has just two assists his last 10 games and knows he have take a turn sitting.singer , who’s transgender, has announced that the band perform their 15th concert Durham, North , as a form of protest.

Just when it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse, the New York Giants compounded a lost season by losing their way. As a lifelong Giants fan, every moment of this 2-9 fiasco — one that began with legitimate Super Bowl hopes — has been painful. And yet, nothing compared to Tuesday’s decision to bench Eli Manning.

The Bills did not even think that much of him.No debut date has been announced, though judging from the flurry of faces glimpsed the commercial, they’ve already taped several segments.After the latest step his recovery, which he fully participated the light practice while wearing a compression sleeve over his left knee, he expects to return to the court by the end of November.He also saw his strikeout rate skyrocket to 12 strikeouts per 9 innings and ended up settling into the closer role, recording 13 Wholesale Jerseys saves.He arrived Pittsburgh, met with a Steelers official but found out during the night of his arrival that a close family member had passed away.

What got into Tomlin? Why so bold? Why this out-of-character public course?

It was Steelers receiver Antonio Brown who taped Tomlin’s private, expletive-filled Patriots message to his team before last season’s AFC championship game and posted it on social media for all to hear. NFL coaches think and say a myriad of salty things in private, so that was amusing but not stunning. Rarely do NFL coaches actually plant such specific, look-ahead, opponent-oriented stuff so audaciously in public.

Here’s what I see -– Mike Tomlin has a Patriots problem.

Hill, 40, signed a two-year, $4 million contract with the Clippers last year but had alluded several times at the end of this that he would retire over the .After missing three games with the right ankle sprain, he looked the first half.To pull your kids out of school and move that quick is odd.i was worried until i was introduced to allhacking0mailcom who hacked her phone and text so i can find out the truth.There are no broadcasters signed up yet, but I can’t imagine it be too difficult to find a partner, and while it might be ‘Too !’ for some, Boal and Lindgren are smart getting reflections on the past year, while memories are still fresh, and emotion is running high.this case, we fix spelling and punctuation.

Mike Davis, RB, Seattle Seahawks (24.6 percent): With another start, Davis has further shown himself to be a capable back for Seattle. He had 15 carries in Week 14 for 66 yards, giving him 31 carries for 128 yards over the past two games. He had just a single catch in Week 14, but given the difficulty in finding running back depth right now, Davis brings some solid value for anyone looking for a back in 12 team or larger leagues.

“It’s a big challenge. I love being in a game like this.”

While many expected the Eagles (10-2) to be playoff contenders, not many thought the Rams (9-3) would be after last year’s 4-12 season. First-year coach Sean McVay has energized the team with an influx of new players like receivers Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins and rookie Cooper Kupp.

“Big credit to the coaches. They’ve put us in a great situations to be able to execute and play at a high level like we’ve been doing,” Gurley said. “We’ve been able to do our job and win. If you’ve been consistently losing or not being able to perform like you want to, you kind of think you can’t do it.

“For us to be able to bounce back this year and get new guys who can come help with this offense is unbelievable. It’s great.”

Although the crew did call the most obvious spillovers of the bad blood, the focus seemed to be on ticky-tack holding and pass interference calls, and the officials were inconsistent in calling those. The other big job of NFL officials is recognizing when emotions and games are getting out of hand and trying to keep things in check. That didn’t happen with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati (again).

When Paul does so, he allows Harden to have a lower-energy offensive possession, which allows him to stay fresher to play a more complete game and stay fresher over the season.

They finished as Lambs under Jeff Fisher, but Sean McVay has made their offense much richer. Now here comes Wade Phillips on his side of the ball, developing a team that’s more complete, y’all.

I use a pretty basic recipe for that. I usually do equal parts beef and spicy Italian sausage. Then I add a little bit of prosciutto, chopped up, to add saltiness; it’s a little change of pace. Then the usual stuff: eggs, bread crumbs, some chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese. I pan fry them and let them simmer in the sauce for a while.

The Patriots are as motivated as usual and appear to have smoothed out their early-season glitches. The Raiders couldn’t be more motivated, hanging around the fringes of the playoff chase but also within view of the AFC West lead despite their terrible recent losing streak.

Who saw this coming before the season, the Rams doing a 180 from the end of the Jeff Fisher regime, the Vikings cruising without their starting quarterback? What the Vikings should worry about, though, is how last week Case Keenum went from unstoppable to a nightmare and back over the course of that game in Washington. The Rams, who had four takeaways and three sacks in Houston last week,take advantage.

The Saintsstart scoreboard-watching, as they’ve climbed to within range of the Eagles and are even with the Rams and Vikings atop the NFC. (Not to mention just ahead of the Panthers.) They need to keep handling their business, and against a team that had no answer for the Vikings on the ground or in the air, they should with their newly-balanced offense. Washington is already in danger of losing sight of the NFC wild-card teams.